Calculating interconnect swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are swizzling techniques that may provide capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of signal lines. Positive noise due to a capacitive coupling between attacker signal lines and near victim signal lines is, in part, cancelled by negative noise due to inductive coupling between the attacker signal lines and a far victim signal line. Swizzling patterns and repeatable swizzling patterns are computed to transpose near victim signal lines and far victim signal lines in subsequent segments to facilitate the capacitive and inductive cancellation. The signal lines are optionally reordered by computing a final swizzling to restore the set&#39;s original ordering.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to the field of interconnect systemsand circuits for transmission of digital data. In particular, thedisclosure relates to line swizzling which may result in the reductionof inductive and capacitive noise on multiple-line interconnects.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

As signals in electronic devices switch at higher and higherfrequencies, maintaining the integrity of these signals becomes anincreasingly difficult problem. High frequency signaling and smallerfeature sizes made possible by advanced processing techniques increasethe importance of signal integrity and signal timing. Additionally,wider bus interconnects, faster switching rates and higher scales ofintegration increase the potential for signal noise and relatedfailures.

Capacitive coupling and inductive coupling of concurrently switchedsignal lines may combine to produce worst-case signal noise that resultsin one or more noise failures or noise-induced timing failures.

Techniques such as shielding and line reordering have been used,especially to reduce the short-range effects of capacitive coupling.Inductive shielding, consisting of fixed-potential or ground linesbetween sets of signal lines, has also been used, especially in highermetal layers but shielding lines (or return lines) consume signal tracksand can be costly, especially in interconnect-limited designs.

Insertion of repeaters has been used to improve signal integrity andlimit noise effects, but repeaters also require additional area and havea further drawback of consuming additional power.

Isolating signal lines between two metal planes has been used in somecommercial processor designs to limit on-chip inductive coupling, butmay require that relatively large areas of existing metal layers or evenadditional metal layers be used as isolating metal planes.

Reordering a set of signal lines with respect to a shared return linehas been shown to reduce inductive coupling between the reordered setand another set of signal lines, but this technique alone has notpreviously been shown to be effective in reducing the inductance withinthe reordered set. Further, this technique requires at least as manyreordering stages as signal lines in the reordered set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an interconnect segment having four sets of sixsignal lines shielded by one return line.

FIG. 2a illustrates a rising voltage over time for an attacker signalline.

FIG. 2b illustrates a positive noise voltage due to a capacitivecoupling between the attacker signal line and a nearby victim signalline, and a negative noise voltage due to an inductive coupling betweenthe attacker signal line and another victim signal line further away.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a swizzling for a set of six signallines.

FIG. 4a illustrates one embodiment of a multiple-stage swizzling patternfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signallines.

FIG. 4b illustrates one embodiment of a multiple-stage swizzling patternfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of eight signallines.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a method for calculating amultiple-stage swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 6a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process toemploy swizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on aset of signal lines.

FIG. 6b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess to employ swizzling for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of signal lines.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a repeatable swizzle cell forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signallines.

FIG. 8a illustrates one embodiment of a method for calculating arepeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 8b illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 8c illustrates another alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 9a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process tocalculate a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation.

FIG. 9b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess to calculate a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation.

FIG. 9c illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess to calculate a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation.

FIG. 10a illustrates one embodiment of a repeatable swizzling patternfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signallines.

FIG. 10b illustrates an alternative embodiment of a repeatable swizzlingpattern for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of sixsignal lines.

FIG. 10c illustrates another alternative embodiment of a repeatableswizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on aset of six signal lines.

FIG. 10d illustrates one embodiment of repeatable swizzles forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of eight signallines.

FIG. 10e illustrates an alternative embodiment of repeatable swizzlesfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of eight signallines.

FIG. 11a illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 11b illustrates another alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of six signal lines.

FIG. 11c illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of five signal lines.

FIG. 12a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process toemploy repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of signal lines.

FIG. 12b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess to employ repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation on a set of signal lines.

FIG. 13a illustrates one embodiment of an apparatus comprisingrepeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on sets of six signal lines.

FIG. 13b illustrates an alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines.

FIG. 13c illustrates another alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines.

FIG. 13d illustrates another alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines.

FIG. 14 illustrates one embodiment of an automated design system tocalculate and employ swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

These and other embodiments of the present invention may be realized inaccordance with the following teachings and it should be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made in the following teachingswithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than restrictive sense and the invention measuredonly in terms of the claims.

Disclosed herein is a process to employ swizzling that may providecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of signal lines. Apositive noise due to a capacitive coupling between an attacker signalline and a first victim signal line is, in part, cancelled by a negativeor opposite noise due to an inductive coupling between the attackersignal line and a second victim signal line. A swizzling pattern is setforth whereby signal lines of one segment are reordered to place thefirst signal line adjacent to the second signal line in a subsequentsegment in order to facilitate the capacitive and inductivecancellation. The swizzling pattern is selected to further facilitatesimilar capacitive and inductive cancellation among the other signallines of the set. The process continues to employ the swizzling patternin multiple stages to place the first signal line adjacent to the restof the signal lines of the set in subsequent stages. The signal linesare optionally reordered by a final swizzle stage to restore the set'soriginal order.

For the purpose of the following discussion a swizzling of a set ofsignal lines is accomplished by reordering one or more signal lineelements of the set. For example, if a set of n signal lines has anorder expressed as {1,2,3,4, . . . n} then the reordered set {1,3,2,4, .. . n} is a swizzling of the set, which transposes signal lines 2 and 3.This transposition may also be written (2,3) or (3,2). A swizzling of aset of n signal lines may be alternatively expressed as a composition oftranspositions. Any one of several different compositions oftranspositions may be used to express a given swizzling. For example,the reordered set of six signal lines given by {2,3,1,6,4,5} may beexpressed, with respect to an initial ordered set {1,2,3,4,5,6}, as theproduct (1,2)(2,3)(5,6)(4,5) or as the product (2,3)(1,3)(4,6)(5,6)which are equivalent expressions. The swizzled signal line positions maybe computed by applying transpositions (from right to left) to theinitial ordered set as follows: $\begin{matrix}{{( {1,2} )( {2,3} )( {5,6} )( {4,5} )\{ {1,2,3,4,5,6} \}} = {( {1,2} )( {2,3} )( {5,6} )\{ {1,2,3,5,4,6} \}}} \\{= {( {1,2} )( {2,3} )\{ {1,2,3,6,4,5} \}}} \\{= {( {1,2} )\{ {1,3,2,6,4,5} \}}} \\{= {\{ {2,3,1,6,4,5} \}.}}\end{matrix}$

An interconnect segment may be divided into sets of signal lines. Thesesets of signal lines may also be shielded by return lines. FIG. 1illustrates, for example, an interconnect segment having four sets ofsix signal lines shielded by one return line. The signal lines of theinterconnect are numbered 00-23 (see bottom of FIG. 1, numbering 00-23from left to right) and each of the sets of signal lines are numbered1-6 corresponding to an initial order of the signal line elements of theset. Return lines 101-105 shield the sets of signal lines. For example,set 106, comprising the six signal lines 06-11, has an initial order 1-6of signal line elements: 1 corresponding to signal line 06, 2corresponding to signal line 07, . . . and 6 corresponding to signalline 11. Set 106 is shielded on the left by return line 102 and on theright by return line 103.

For the purpose of the following discussion a signal line that isadjacent to a return line on one side and adjacent to another signalline of the set on the other side may be referred to as half-shielded.In order to better illustrate techniques of the present disclosure,signal lines of the same set are assumed to be concurrently active,meaning that each signal line of the set may be switched concurrently ina transmission cycle. A signal to return ratio is the number of signallines per return line of the interconnect. FIG. 1, for example has asignal to return ratio of 6:1. A signal line that is being switched froma first voltage state to a second voltage state, different from thefirst, may be referred to as an attacker signal line. Accordingly, asignal line that is a recipient of noise through a capacitive couplingor an inductive coupling with an attacker signal line may be referred toas a victim signal line.

It will be appreciated that if a first signal line is adjacent to asecond signal line that is not switched concurrently with the firstsignal line, then the first signal line may be considered additionallyshielded by the second signal line. Such considerations may also betaken into account by one skilled in the art without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention claimed.

FIG. 2a illustrates a rising voltage 211 over time corresponding to aswitching voltage state of an attacker signal line. FIG. 2b illustratesa positive noise voltage 221 due to a capacitive coupling between theattacker signal line and a nearby victim signal line, and a negativenoise voltage 222 due to an inductive coupling between the attackersignal line and another victim signal line further away from theattacker. A key observation is that by reversing the positions of thenear victim signal line and far victim signal line with respect to theattacker in a subsequent interconnect segment, a partial cancellation ofthe capacitive and inductive noise voltages may be provided. Therefore,it will be appreciated that a partial cancellation of capacitive andinductive noise may be provided in a subsequent interconnect segment bya swizzling of a set of signal lines.

It will be appreciated that not every swizzling of a set of signal linesis equally effective. It is desirable to transpose the order ofcapacitive and inductive victims or attackers so that when a signal isadjacent to a first subset of signal lines before the swizzling andadjacent to a second subset of signal lines after the swizzling, thefirst subset and the second subset are disjoint (include no signal linesin common).

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a swizzling 301 for a set of sixsignal lines having an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Swizzling 301reorders the set placing signal line 3 next to signal line 6 forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Similarly signal line 6 isplaced next to signal lines 3 and 2, signal line 2 is placed next tosignal lines 6 and 5, signal line 5 is placed next to signal lines 2 and1, signal line 1 is placed next to signal lines 5 and 4, and signal line4 is placed next to signal line 1 to provide a stage of capacitive andinductive noise cancellation for the set.

Typically the inductive noise from one attacker is weaker than thecapacitive noise form one attacker. A key observation is that additionalswizzling may be used to provide subsequent stages of further capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation for the set by balancing the number ofsignal lines that are near neighbors in subsequent stages. It will alsobe appreciated that swizzling 301 additionally provides for signal lines3 and 4 to be half-shielded during the stage of capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation.

For the purpose of this discussion, a reordered set of signal linesgiven, for example, by {3,1,5,2,6,4} may be used herein to represent aswizzle or swizzling with respect to an initial set {1,2,3,4,5,6} andmay be equivalently expressed as a corresponding non-unique product oftranspositions, (1,3)(2,3)(3,4)(3,5)(5,6). The new signal line positionsfor a first swizzle stage may be computed as follows: $\begin{matrix}{{( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )( {5,6} )\{ {1,2,3,4,5,6} \}} = {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )\{ {1,2,3,4,6,5} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )\{ {1,2,5,4,6,3} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )\{ {1,2,5,3,6,4} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )\{ {1,3,5,2,6,4} \}}} \\{= {\{ {3,1,5,2,6,4} \}.}}\end{matrix}$

A composition of two swizzles may be expressed as a product of theircorresponding transpositions and applied to an ordered set. For example,the product of {3,1,5,2,6,4} with itself may be computed as:${{\lbrack {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )( {5,6} )} \rbrack \lbrack {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )( {5,6} )} \rbrack}\{ {1,2,3,4,5,6} \}} = \quad \begin{matrix}{{( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )( {5,6} )\{ {3,1,5,2,6,4} \}} = {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )( {3,5} )\{ {3,1,6,2,5,4} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )( {3,4} )\{ {5,1,6,2,3,4} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )( {2,3} )\{ {5,1,6,2,4,3} \}}} \\{= {( {1,3} )\{ {5,1,6,3,4,2} \}}} \\{= {\{ {5,3,6,1,4,2} \}.}}\end{matrix}$

Hence, the signal line positions for subsequent swizzle stages of amultiple-stage swizzling pattern may be computed by compositions ofsequential swizzles.

In selecting a multiple-stage swizzling pattern, it is desirable toprovide new neighboring signal lines in consecutive swizzle stages foras many of the set as may be convenient. One reasonable question to askis, “How many swizzle stages, s, does it take to provide a balanceddistribution of signal line adjacencies for an ordered set of n signallines?” In a typical interconnect, if for any one signal line, themaximum number of adjacent signal lines is two, then the number ofstages to place each signal line adjacent to each of the other signallines of the set may be computed by solving the following quadraticequation:

 n ²/2−(2s+3)n/2+s+1=0.

For example, when n=6, then s=2, so since any signal line is initiallyadjacent to one or two other signal lines, two additional stages arerequired to place every signal line adjacent to each of the five othersignal lines of the set. For n=8, s=3, so three additional stages arerequired to place every signal line adjacent to each of the seven othersignal lines of the set. Notably, however, since capacitive andinductive noise cancellation may be incrementally applied, somecancellation benefits may be obtained by fewer stages than indicated bythis equation. As will described below, for example with reference toFIGS. 11a-c, some benefit may also be obtained by more stages thanindicated by this equation.

FIG. 4a illustrates one embodiment of a multiple-stage swizzling patternincluding swizzling 401 and swizzling 404 for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of six signal lines having an initial order{1,2,3,4,5,6}. Swizzling 401 reorders the set placing signal line 3 nextto signal line 6, signal line 6 next to signal lines 3 and 2, signalline 2 next to signal lines 6 and 5, signal line 5 next to signal lines2 and 1, signal line 2 next to signal lines 5 and 4, and signal line 4next to signal line 1 to provide a first stage of capacitive andinductive noise cancellation for the set. Swizzling 404 reorders the setplacing signal line 5 next to signal line 3, signal line 3 next tosignal lines 5 and 1, signal line 1 next to signal lines 3 and 6, signalline 6 next to signal lines 1 and 4, signal line 4 next to signal lines6 and 2, and signal line 2 next to signal line 4 to provide a secondstage of further capacitive and inductive noise cancellation for theset. Finally, an optional application of swizzling 401 reorders the setof signal lines to restore the initial order of the set.

FIG. 4b illustrates one embodiment of a multiple-stage swizzling patternincluding swizzling 411, swizzling 412, and swizzling 413 for capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation on a set of eight signal lines havingan initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}. Swizzling 411 reorders the setplacing signal line 2 next to signal line 5, signal line 5 next tosignal lines 2 and 1, signal line 1 next to signal lines 5 and 3, signalline 3 next to signal lines 1 and 6, signal line 6 next to signal lines5 and 8, signal line 8 next to signal lines 6 and 4, signal line 4 nextto signal lines 8 and 7, and signal line 7 next to signal line 4 toprovide a first stage of capacitive and inductive noise cancellation forthe set. Swizzling 412 reorders the set placing signal line 3 next tosignal line 8, signal line 8 next to signal lines 3 and 5, signal line 5next to signal lines 8 and 7, signal line 7 next to signal lines 5 and2, signal line 2 next to signal lines 7 and 4, signal line 4 next tosignal lines 2 and 1, signal line 1 next to signal lines 4 and 6, andsignal line 6 next to signal line 1 to provide a second stage of furthercapacitive and inductive noise cancellation for the set. Swizzling 413reorders the set placing signal line 4 next to signal line 6, signalline 6 next to signal lines 4 and 2, signal line 2 next to signal lines6 and 8, signal line 8 next to signal lines 2 and 1, signal line 1 nextto signal lines 8 and 7, signal line 7 next to signal lines 1 and 3,signal line 3 next to signal lines 7 and 5, and signal line 5 next tosignal line 3 to provide a third stage of further capacitive andinductive noise cancellation for the set. Finally, an optionalapplication of swizzling 414 reorders the set of signal lines to restorethe initial order of the set.

The multiple-stage swizzling patterns of the two examples of FIGS. 4aand 4 b provide, for every signal line, a placement adjacent to everyother signal line of the set exactly once. These multiple-stageswizzling patterns additionally provide for every signal line of the setto be half-shielded during some stage of capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Both of these are desirable features for one embodiment ofa multiple-stage swizzling pattern. By properly constructing amultiple-stage swizzling pattern, one or more of these desirablefeatures may be accorded, thereby providing for effective capacitive andinductive noise cancellation.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a method for calculating amultiple-stage swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines. Each of the rows and columnsof matrix 506 are labeled for a particular signal line 1-6. Matrix 506is initialized along its diagonal with a capacitive and inductive noisecancellation target value of 1. As will be illustrated in this and insucceeding examples, the target value may be used to provide that eachsignal line will be placed adjacent to every other signal line of theset exactly once. The rest of the entries of matrix 506 are initializedby counting the number of times a signal line is adjacent to anothersignal line in the initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6} of the set. For example,signal line 1 is adjacent to signal line 2 and so a 1 in entered at row1 column 2; signal line 2 is adjacent to signal line 1 so a 1 is enteredat row 2, column 1; signal line 1 is not adjacent to signal line 3 so a0 is entered as row 1, column 3; and so forth for the rest of theentries of matrix 506.

A capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m, may be setforth. For example, one possible metric in the case of the methodillustrated in FIG. 5 may be expressed as a function that sums acancellation potential for each row of matrix 506 and subtracts the sumfrom a cancellation target, e.g.:

m=20−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦6)|entry(i,i)−entry(i,j)|.

Therefore m=0 for matrix 506. A swizzle stage 501 is then computed toincrease the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m.Metric m may be increased by at most 10 in a particular swizzle stage,for instance if swizzle stage 501 places every signal line adjacent tosignal lines other than the signal lines they are adjacent to in theinitial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Since in swizzle stage 501, the order{3,1,5,2,6,4} places 1 next to 3 and 5, 2 next to 5 and 6, 3 next to 1,4 next to 6, 5 next to 1 and 2, and 6 next to 2 and 4. (none of whichwere adjacent in the initial order) the corresponding entries in matrix507 are changed from 0 to 1, resulting in an increased capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric of m=10.

Swizzle stage 501 may be computed to increase the capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric, m, in any one of a number of ways.For one embodiment and exhaustive search may be made, for example, ofall possible signal line orders. For an alternative embodiment, twosignal line numbers may be transposed from the current order placing atleast one of the two lines next to a signal line that would increase thecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric. For example, atransposition (5,6) creates an order {1,2,3,4,6,5} placing 6 next to 4,which provides for changing two of the entries of 0 in matrix 506 andincreasing m to a value of 2.

Of course signal lines may be exchanged in cycles of various otherlengths in addition to or instead of transpositions (cycles of length 2)but for simplification of the present discussion, transpositions aredescribed since a cycle of any length may be expressed as a product oftranspositions. Since, in this case, m may be increased by up to a limitof 10 in one swizzle stage, new transpositions may be selected until theswizzle stage cancellation limit is reached.

For example, another transposition (1,2) creates an order {2,1,3,4,6,5}placing 1 next to 3, and increasing m to a value of 4; a thirdtransposition (3,5) creates an order {2,1,5,4,6,3} placing 3 next to 6,placing 5 next to 1, and increasing m to a value of 6; a fourthtransposition (3,4) creates an order {2,1,5,3,6,4} placing 3 next toboth 6 and 5, and increasing m to a value of 8; and finally atransposition (2,3) creates an order {3,1,5,2,6,4} placing 3 next to 1and replacing 3 with 2 next to both 5 and 6 thereby increasing m to thelimit value of 10. It will be appreciated that by starting withtranspositions that involve signal lines on the leftmost and rightmostends, half-shielding is provided for other signal lines of the set andsuccessful completion of the swizzling pattern may be provided a higherprobability.

Similarly, swizzle stage 504 may be computed to increase the capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation metric, m. Since in swizzle stage 504,the order {2,4,1,6,3,5) places 1 next to 4 and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to5 and 6, 4 next to 1 and next to 3, and 6 next to 1 and 3 (none of whichwere adjacent in the initial order or in previously computed swizzlestage 501) the corresponding entries in matrix 508 are changed from 0 to1, resulting a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric ofm=20. Since no further increase in the capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric is available, the swizzling pattern is completeexcept for an optional final swizzling to restore the set's originalorder.

A swizzling pattern, as herein disclosed, may be employed for a set ofsignal lines of an interconnect to provide multiple stages of capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation for the signal line elements of theset. By employing such swizzling patterns in accordance with theteachings of the current disclosure, subsequent swizzle stages may beused to provide incremental improvements in noise reduction throughcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation among signal line elementsof the set.

FIG. 6a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process 601to employ swizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on aset of signal lines. Process 601 and other processes herein disclosedare performed by processing blocks that may comprise dedicated hardwareor software or firmware operation codes executable by general purposemachines or by special purpose machines or by a combination of both.

In processing block 611 a set of signal lines, having an initial order,is swizzled to provide a first stage of capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Processing continues in processing block 612 where the setof signal lines, is swizzled again to provide another stage of furthercapacitive and inductive noise cancellation. In processing block 613 acheck is performed to see if the swizzling pattern is finished. Such acheck may be based upon a computed number of stages as disclosed above,or as will be discussed in greater detail in the succeeding examples, ona noise cancellation target or on one of a variety of other algorithmictechniques. If the swizzling pattern is not finished, processingcontinues in processing block 612 and the set of signal lines, isswizzled again to provide another stage of further capacitive andinductive noise cancellation. Otherwise, the process terminates fromprocessing block 613.

It will be appreciated that the set of signal lines may or may not havebeen restored to their initial order following the completion of process601. In such cases where the order of the set of signal lines after thecompletion of process 601 is not the same as the initial order of theset of signal lines, an additional swizzle stage may optionally beemployed to restore the initial order of the set.

FIG. 6b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess 602 to employ swizzling for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of signal lines. In processing block 621 a signalline of a set of signal lines is swizzled to place it next to at leastone signal line for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation.Processing continues in processing block 622 where a check is performedto see if a further capacitive and inductive noise cancellation isavailable. If not, process 602 terminates from processing block 622.Otherwise, processing continues in processing block 623 and the signalline is swizzled again to place it next to at least one other signalline for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Processing thencontinues in processing block 622 where the check is again performed tosee if a further capacitive and inductive noise cancellation isavailable.

It will be appreciated that process 602 may require multiple swizzlestages in order to place a particular signal line next to more than twoother signal lines of the set for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. It will also be appreciated that process 602 may beapplied to any or all of the signal lines of the set of signal lines toprovide capacitive and inductive noise cancellation for multiple signalline elements of the set, and again, in such cases where the order ofthe set of signal lines after one or more applications of process 602 isnot the same as the initial order of the set of signal lines, anadditional swizzle stage may optionally be employed to restore theinitial order of the set.

Swizzling patterns may be employed for sets of signal lines ininterconnects of various types, for example, in printed circuit boards,in flat cables, in on-chip busses, in ceramic substrates, etc. It willbe appreciated that one typical set of signal lines of an interconnectmay be constructed as metal traces in a layer of a very large-scaleintegrated (VLSI) circuit design. In such a construction, a swizzlingpattern may be employed through the insertion or creation of a VLSIswizzle cell to reorder the signal lines for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation. If such a swizzle cell is repeatable it may morereadily provide for automated insertion of swizzle cells and employmentof swizzling patterns in the interconnect design.

For the purpose of this discussion, a repeatable swizzle cell or arepeatable swizzling of a set of signal lines is one that may beselected for use more than once in a particular swizzling pattern. Forclarity of illustration, upper and lower layers of a VLSI design aredistinguished from one another by reference in the present disclosure,but it will be appreciated that these distinctions may be convenientlychosen in accordance with a particular design.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a repeatable swizzle cell 701 toprovide a swizzling according to a particular reassignment of signaltracks for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of sixsignal lines having an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. For one embodiment,swizzle cell 701 comprises at least two layers of metal traces and viasto establish conductive connections between the layers. Since swizzlecell 701 may be efficiently designed once but reused many times, therepetition of use provides for cost and labor savings and the efficiencyof design provides for area and complexity savings in the interconnectdesign. Signal line 1 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 3 and5 for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation by routing the metalon the lower layer from the leftmost signal track to the second signaltrack. On the other hand, signal line 2 is swizzled to place it next tosignal lines 5 and 6 for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation byrouting the metal on an upper layer from the second signal track to thefourth signal track and connecting to the lower layer through via 702and via 742. Similarly, signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next tosignal line 1 by routing the metal on an upper layer from the thirdsignal track to the leftmost signal track and connecting to the lowerlayer through via 703 and via 713; signal line 4 is swizzled to place itnext to signal lines 6 by routing the metal on an upper layer from thefourth signal track to the rightmost signal track and connecting to thelower layer through via 704 and via 764; signal line 5 is swizzled toplace it next to signal lines 1 and 2 by routing the metal on the lowerlayer from the fifth signal track to the third signal track; and signalline 6 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 2 and 4 by routingthe metal on the lower layer from the rightmost signal track to thefifth signal track. It will be appreciated in accordance with thediscussion below (for example, with reference to swizzle cell 1311 inFIG. 13a), that swizzle cell 701 and other repeatable swizzle cells maybe inserted repeatedly into an interconnect to employ a swizzlingpattern.

A swizzling pattern may be more efficiently constructed through thereuse of repeatable swizzle cells. Libraries comprising repeatableswizzle cells may be made available to computer aided design systems forautomated insertion of swizzle cells, and for automated calculation andemployment of swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Alternatively, repeatable swizzle cells may beautomatically calculated and optimally routed according to designspecifications and parameters, then reused to construct multiple-stageswizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation.

As was discussed above, a composition of two swizzles may be expressedas a product of their corresponding transpositions and applied to anordered set. If a composition of a swizzle with itself, after one ormore times, produces another swizzle to increase capacitive andinductive noise cancellation, then that swizzle or successivecompositions may be repeatedly used in constructing a swizzling pattern.For example, swizzling 301, expressed as {3,6,2,5,1,4} may be referredto, for simplicity, as a, and swizzling 501, expressed as (3,1,5,2,6,4}may be referred to, for simplicity, as b. It will then be appreciatedthat repeated compositions of a and b generate swizzle groups withrespect to an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6} as follows: $\begin{matrix}{{a^{1} = \{ {3,6,2,5,1,4} \}},} & {{b^{1} = \{ {3,1,5,2,6,4} \}},} \\{{a^{2} = \{ {2,4,6,1,3,5} \}},} & {{b^{2} = \{ {5,3,6,1,4,2} \}},} \\{{a^{3} = \{ {6,5,4,3,2,1} \}},} & {{b^{3} = \{ {6,5,4,3,2,1} \}},} \\{{a^{4} = \{ {4,1,5,2,6,3} \}},} & {{b^{4} = \{ {4,6,2,5,1,3} \}},} \\{{a^{5} = \{ {5,3,1,6,4,2} \}},} & {{b^{5} = \{ {2,4,1,6,3,5} \}},} \\{{a^{6} = \{ {1,2,3,4,5,6} \}},} & {b^{6} = {\{ {1,2,3,4,5,6} \}.}}\end{matrix}$

It will be further appreciated that a swizzling pattern given bya¹,a⁴,a¹ may be employed as shown in FIG. 4a, since a¹={3,6,2,5,1,4},which results from swizzling 401; a¹a⁴=a⁵={5,3,1,6,4,2}, which resultsfrom swizzling 404; and a¹a⁴a¹=a⁶={1,2,3,4,5,6}, which results from therepeated use of swizzling 401. Similarly, a swizzling pattern given byb¹,b⁴,b¹ may be employed as shown in FIG. 5, since b¹={3,1,5,2,6,4},which is computed as swizzle stage 501; b¹b⁴=b⁵={2,4,1,6,3,5}, which iscomputed as swizzle stage 504; and b¹b⁴b¹=b⁶={1,2,3,4,5,6}, indicatingthat b may be optionally employed to restore the initial order through areuse of the swizzle cell of swizzle stage 501.

For the purpose of this discussion, swizzles such as a and b may bereferred to as generators of their respective swizzle groups. Swizzlegroups that may be generated by repeated compositions of a particularswizzle may also be referred to as cyclic swizzle groups. It will beappreciated that cyclic swizzle groups have the properties thatexponents may be computed in a straight forward manner (modulo 6 in thiscase) and compositions are commutative, which is not true in general forcomposition of swizzles (which are associative). Such properties providefor efficient calculation of repeatable swizzling patterns. Accordingly,it will be appreciated that in addition to those presented above,numerous other combinations of elements from cyclic swizzle groups formrepeatable swizzling patterns, for example: a⁴,a⁴,a⁴; a¹,a¹,a⁴;a²,a²,a²; a⁵,a²,a⁵; a⁵,a⁵,a²,a²,a⁵, a⁵ forth.

FIG. 8a illustrates one embodiment of a method for calculating arepeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines. Each of the rows and columnsof matrix 806 are labeled for a particular signal line 1-6. Matrix 806is initialized along its diagonal with a capacitive and inductive noisecancellation target value of 1 and the rest of the entries of matrix 806are initialized according to the number of times a signal line isadjacent to another signal line in the initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6} ofthe set.

A capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m, may be setforth similar to the example illustrated in FIG. 5, i.e.:

m=20−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦6)|entry(i,i)−entry(i,j)|.

A swizzle stage 804 is then computed to increase the capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric, m. For example, m is increased byswizzle stage 804 placing every signal line adjacent to signal linesother than the signal lines they are adjacent to in the initial order{1,2,3,4,5,6}. Since in swizzle stage 804, the order {4,1,5,2,6,3}places 1 next to 4 and 5, 2 next to 5 and 6, 3 next to 6,4 next to 1, 5next to 1 and 2, and 6 next to 2 and 3, none of which have entries of 1in matrix 806, the corresponding entries in matrix 807 are changed from0 to 1, resulting in a capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric of m=10.

Next swizzle stage 804 is composed with itself to generate swizzle stage814 and then checked to see if it increases the capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation metric, m. Since in swizzle stage 814, the order{2,4,6,1,3,5} places 1 next to 3 and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to 1 and 5,4 next to 2 and 6, 5 next to 3, and 6 next to 1 and 4, the correspondingentries in matrix 808 are changed from 0 to 1, resulting in a capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation metric of m=20. Since no furtherincrease in the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric isavailable, the swizzling pattern is complete. An optional swizzling torestore the set's original order may also be accomplished by composingswizzle stage 804 again with swizzle stage 814. It will be appreciatedthat the repeatable swizzling pattern calculated in FIG. 8a correspondsto the swizzling pattern a⁴, a⁴, a⁴ mentioned above.

FIG. 8b illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines. Each of the rows and columnsof matrix 816 are labeled for a particular signal line 1-6. Matrix 806is initialized along its diagonal with x's and the rest of the entriesof matrix 806 are initialized according to the stage in which a signalline is adjacent to another signal line. For example, the entries ofmatrix 816 receive a 0 if signal lines are adjacent in the initial order{1,2,3,4,5,6} of the set and an x if they are not.

An alternative capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m,may be set forth as follows:

m=26−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦6)[1 if entry(i,j)=x; 0 otherwise].

A swizzle stage 804 is then computed to increase the capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric, m. For example, since in swizzlestage 804, the order {4,1,5,2,6,3} places 1 next to 4 and 5, 2 next to 5and 6, 3 next to 6, 4 next to 1, 5 next to 1 and 2, and 6 next to 2 and3, each of which have entries of x in matrix 816, the correspondingentries in matrix 817 are changed from x to 1, resulting in a capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation metric of m=10.

Next swizzle stage 804 is composed with itself to generate swizzle stage814 and then checked to see if it increases the capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation metric, m. Since in swizzle stage 814, the order{2,4,6,1,3,5} places 1 next to 3 and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to 1 and 5,4 next to 2 and 6, 5 next to 3, and 6 next to 1 and 4, the correspondingentries in matrix 818 are changed from x to 2, resulting in a capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation metric of m=20. Since no furtherincrease in the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric isavailable, the swizzling pattern is complete. An optional swizzling torestore the set's original order may also be performed as previouslydescribed.

FIG. 8c illustrates another alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on a set of six signal lines. Adjacency set 825 isinitialized to contain all of the undirected edges of a completelyconnected graph with 6 vertices (corresponding to the 6 signal lines1-6). Adjacency set 825 is updated for the initial order 800 of the setof signal lines by removing an edge(i,j) if a signal line i is adjacentto another signal line j in the initial order. The result is adjacencyset 826.

An alternative capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m,may be set forth as follows:

m=10−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦6)|[1 if edge(i,j) is in the adjacency set; 0otherwise].

A swizzle stage 804 is then computed to increase the capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric, m. For example, since a graph forswizzle stage 804 includes an edge(1,4), an edge(1,5), an edge(2,5), anedge(2,6), and an edge(3,6) these edges are removed in adjacency set827, resulting in a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metricof m=5.

Next swizzle stage 804 is composed with itself to generate swizzle stage814 and then checked to see if a graph for swizzle stage 814 includesedges contained in adjacency set 827, which if removed, would increasethe capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m. Since a graphfor swizzle stage 814 includes an edge(2,4), an edge(4,6), an edge(1,4),an edge(1,3), and an edge(3,5) these edges may be removed in adjacencyset 827, resulting in a capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric of m=10. Since no further increase in the capacitive andinductive noise cancellation metric is available, the swizzling patternis complete. An optional swizzling to restore the set's original ordermay also be performed as previously described.

FIG. 9a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process 901to calculate a swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. In processing block 911 a swizzle stage is computed toincrease a capacitive and inductive (CI) noise cancellation metric.Processing continues in processing block 912 where a check is performedto see if the capacitive and inductive (CI) noise cancellation targethas been reached. If so, process 901 terminates from processing block912. Otherwise, processing continues in processing block 911 whereanother swizzle stage is computed to increase the capacitive andinductive (CI) noise cancellation metric. Processing then returns toprocessing block 912 until the capacitive and inductive (CI) noisecancellation target has been reached, which finally terminates process901 from processing block 912.

It will be appreciated that in such cases where the order of the set ofsignal lines after one or more applications of process 901 is not thesame as the initial order of the set of signal lines, an additionalswizzle stage may optionally be computed to restore the initial order ofthe set.

FIG. 9b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess 902 to calculate a swizzling pattern for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation. In processing block 921 two line numbersare transposed placing at least one of the two transposed line numbersnext to a line number that increases a capacitive and inductive (CI)noise cancellation metric. Processing continues in processing block 922where a check is performed to see if the capacitive and inductive (Cl)noise cancellation target has been reached. If so, process 902terminates from processing block 922. Otherwise, processing continues inprocessing block 923 a check is performed to see if the stagecancellation limit has been reached. If not, processing returns toprocessing block 921. Otherwise a new swizzle stage is begun inprocessing block 924 and then processing returns to processing block921.

FIG. 9c illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess 903 to calculate a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation. In processing block 911 a firstswizzle stage is computed to increase a capacitive and inductive (CI)noise cancellation metric. Processing continues in processing block 931where the first swizzle stage is composed with itself to generate asecond swizzle stage. Processing then continues in processing block 932where a check is performed to see if capacitive and inductive (CI) noisecancellation is further increased in the second swizzle stage. If so,process 903 terminates from processing block 932. Otherwise, processingcontinues in processing block 911 where a new first swizzle stage iscomputed to increase the capacitive and inductive (CI) noisecancellation metric, and then repeats processing block 931 andprocessing block 932 until a repeatable swizzling pattern is found,which finally terminates process 903 from processing block 932.

As was discussed above, when a swizzle composed with itself one or moretimes, produces another swizzle stage to increase capacitive andinductive noise cancellation, then that swizzle or successivecompositions may be repeatedly used in constructing a swizzling pattern.

It will be appreciated that in cases where the order of the set ofsignal lines following one or more repetition of a repeatable swizzle isnot the same as the initial order of the set of signal lines, anadditional swizzle stage may optionally be used to restore the initialorder of the set. Alternatively in cases where, starting after someprimary swizzle stage, the order of the set of signal lines followingone or more repetition of a repeatable swizzle is naturally restored tothe initial order of the set of signal lines, then such a primaryswizzle stage may be computed to facilitate the restoration of theinitial order of the set.

FIG. 10a illustrates one embodiment of a repeatable swizzling patternfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signallines. In accordance with the previous discussion, a repeatableswizzling pattern given by a⁴,a⁴,a⁴ may be employed as shown, sincea⁴={4,1,5,2,6,3}, which results from swizzling 1004;a⁴a⁴=a⁸=a²={2,4,6,1,3,5}, which results from the repeated swizzling1014; and a⁴a⁴a⁴=a¹²=a⁰={1,2,3,4,5,6}, which results from the repeatedswizzling 1024.

FIG. 10b illustrates an alternative embodiment of a repeatable swizzlingpattern for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of sixsignal lines. A repeatable swizzling pattern given by a², a², a² may beemployed as shown, since a²={2,4,6,1,3,5}, which results from swizzling1002; a²a²=a⁴={4,1,5,2,6,3}, which results from the repeated swizzling1012; and a²a²a²=a⁶=a⁰={1,2,3,4,5,6}, which results from the repeatedswizzling 1022.

FIG. 10c illustrates another alternative embodiment of a repeatableswizzling pattern for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on aset of six signal lines. A repeatable swizzling pattern given by a⁵, a⁵,a² may be employed as shown, since a⁵={5,3,1,6,4,2}, which results fromswizzling 1005; a⁵a⁵=a¹⁰=a⁴={4,1,5,2,6,3}, which results from therepeated swizzling 1015; and a⁵a⁵a²=a¹²=a⁰={1,2,3,4,5,6}, which resultsfrom swizzling 1022.

It will be appreciated that a greater number of signal lines or a lessernumber of signal lines may be included in a set in accordance with thesignal to return ratio of the interconnect. Repeatable swizzlingpatterns may also be employed, in accordance with the current teachings,for sets having a greater number or a lesser number of signal lines. Forexample, FIG. 10d illustrates one embodiment of a useful subset ofrepeatable swizzles 1041, 1043, 1045 and 1047 for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation on a set of eight signal lines. Swizzling1041, which may be expressed as {7,4,1,3,6,8,5,2} may also be referredto, for simplicity of discussion, as c. FIG. 10e illustrates analternative embodiment of a useful subset of repeatable swizzles 1051,1052, 1053 and 1057 for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on aset of eight signal lines. Swizzling 1051, which may be expressed as{2,4,1,6,3,8,5,7} may be referred to as d.

It will be appreciated that repeated compositions of c and d generateswizzle groups with respect to an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} asfollows: $\begin{matrix}{{c^{1} = \{ {7,4,1,3,6,8,5,2} \}},} & {{d^{1} = \{ {2,4,1,6,3,8,5,7} \}},} \\{{c^{2} = \{ {5,3,7,1,8,2,6,4} \}},} & {{d^{2} = \{ {4,6,2,8,1,7,3,5} \}},} \\{{c^{3} = \{ {6,1,5,7,2,4,8,3} \}},} & {{d^{3} = \{ {6,8,4,7,2,5,1,3} \}},} \\{{c^{4} = \{ {8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1} \}},} & {{d^{4} = \{ {8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1} \}},} \\{{c^{5} = \{ {2,5,8,6,3,1,4,7} \}},} & {{d^{5} = \{ {7,5,8,3,6,1,4,2} \}},} \\{{c^{6} = \{ {4,6,2,8,1,7,3,5} \}},} & {{d^{6} = \{ {5,3,7,1,8,2,6,4} \}},} \\{{c^{7} = \{ {3,8,4,2,7,5,1,6} \}},} & {{d^{7} = \{ {3,1,5,2,7,4,8,6} \}},} \\{{c^{8} = \{ {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} \}},} & {d^{8} = {\{ {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} \}.}}\end{matrix}$

It will be further appreciated that a swizzling pattern given by c¹, c¹,c¹, c⁵, may be employed using swizzling 1041 repeatedly and optionallyrestoring the initial order of the set using swizzling 1045. A swizzlingpattern given by d²,d¹,d²,d³, may be employed using swizzling 1052 sinced²={4,6,2,8,1,7,3,5}; followed by swizzling 1051 sinced²d¹=d³={6,8,4,7,2,5,1,3}; followed by a repeat of swizzling 1052 sinced²d¹d²=d⁵={7,5,8,3,6,1,4,2}; and then optionally restoring the initialorder of the set using swizzling 1053 sinced²d¹d²d³=d⁸={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}. In one embodiment, it may be convenientto restore the initial order, in close proximity or just prior to theinterconnect destination. In an alternative embodiment, it may beconvenient to position a first swizzling, in close proximity to theinterconnect source—either, both or neither of these alternative optionschosen according to the particular design.

As previously noted, in addition to those presented above, numerousother combinations of elements from cyclic swizzle groups formrepeatable swizzling patterns, for example, with C³ referring toswizzling 1043, with c⁷ referring to swizzling 1047, and with d⁷referring to swizzling 1057, swizzling patterns may be employed forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation as follows: C³,C³,C³,C⁷;C⁵,C⁵,C⁵,C¹; C⁷,C⁷,C⁷,C³; d¹,d²,d³,d²,d³,d³,d³,d⁷; d⁷,d⁷,d⁷,d³ and soforth.

FIG. 11a illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of six signal lines. Each of the rows andcolumns of matrix 1106 are labeled for a particular signal line 1-6.This time, matrix 1106 is initialized along its diagonal with acapacitive and inductive noise cancellation target value of 2 and therest of the entries of matrix 1106 are initialized according to thenumber of times a signal line is adjacent to another signal line in theinitial order {1,2,3,4,5,6} of the set.

An alternative capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m,may be set forth as follows:

 m=50−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦6)|entry(i,i)−entry(i,j)|.

Swizzle stage 1111 and 1121 are computed composing a with itself asbefore to increase the capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric, m. Since in swizzle stage 1111, the order {3,6,2,5,1,4} places 1next to 4 and 5, 2 next to 5 and 6, 3 next to 6, 4 next to 1, 5 next to1 and 2, and 6 next to 2 and 3; and in swizzle stage 1121, the order{2,4,6,1,3,5} places 1 next to 3 and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to 1 and 5,4 next to 2 and 6, 5 next to 3, and 6 next to 1 and 4; the correspondingentries in matrix 1107 are changed from 0 to 1, resulting in acapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric of m=20.

Swizzle stages 1131 and 1141 are computed by repeated composition of ato increase the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m.Since in swizzle stage 1131, the order {6,5,4,3,2,1} places all signallines in reversed initial order; and in swizzle stage 1141, the order{4,1,5,2,6,3} places 1 next to 4 and 5, 2 next to 5 and 6, 3 next to 6,4 next to 1, 5 next to 1 and 2, and 6 next to 2 and 3 the correspondingentries in matrix 1108 are changed from 1 to 2, resulting in acapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric of m=40.

Similarly, swizzle stage 1151 is computed by composition of a toincrease the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m.Since in swizzle stage 1151, the order {5,3,1,6,4,2} places 1 next to 3and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to 1 and 5, 4 next to 2 and 6, 5 next to 3,and 6 next to 1 and 4; the corresponding entries in matrix 1109 arechanged from 1 to 2, resulting in a capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric of m=50.

Since no further increase in the capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric is available, the swizzling pattern is complete. Anoptional swizzling to restore the set's original order may also beaccomplished by composition of a again with swizzle stage 1151.

FIG. 11b illustrates another alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of six signal lines. Swizzle stage 1111 and1121 are computed as before to increase the capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation metric, m, and the corresponding entries in matrix1107 are updated resulting in a capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric of m=20.

Swizzle stage 1122 is then computed by composition of a² to increase thecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m. Since in swizzlestage 1122, the order {4,1,5,2,6,3} places 1 next to 4 and 5, 2 next to5 and 6, 3 next to 6, 4 next to 1, 5 next to 1 and 2, and 6 next to 2and 3 the corresponding entries in matrix 1118 are changed from 1 to 2,resulting in a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric ofm=30.

Swizzle stages 1151 and 1161 are computed by composition of a toincrease the capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m.Since in swizzle stage 1151, the order {5,3,1,6,4,2} places 1 next to 3and 6, 2 next to 4, 3 next to 1 and 5, 4 next to 2 and 6, 5 next to 3,and 6 next to 1 and 4; and in swizzle stage 1161, the order{1,2,3,4,5,6} places all signal lines in their initial order; thecorresponding entries in matrix 1119 are changed from 1 to 2, resultingin a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric of m=50. Sinceno further increase in the capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric is available, the swizzling pattern is complete.

FIG. 11c illustrates an alternative embodiment of a method forcalculating a repeatable swizzling pattern for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of five signal lines. An alternativecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m, may be set forthas follows:

m=32−Σ_(for 1≦i,j≦5)|entry(i,i)−entry(i,j)|.

Swizzle stage 1115, {3,4,2,5,1}, is computed as before to increase thecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric, m, and thecorresponding entries in matrix 1127 are updated resulting in acapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric of m=8.

Swizzle stage 1125 is then computed by composition of swizzle stage 1115with itself to increase the capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric, m. Since in swizzle stage 1125, the order {2,5,4,1,3} places 1next to 3 and 4, 2 next to 5, 3 next to 1, 4 next to 1 and 5, and 5 nextto 2 and 4 the corresponding entries in matrix 1128 are incremented,resulting in a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric ofm=16.

Swizzle stage 1135 is then computed by composition of swizzle stage 1115with swizzle stage 1125 to increase the capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric, m. Since in swizzle stage 1135, the order{4,1,5,3,2} places 1 next to 4 and 5, 2 next to 3, 3 next to 2 and 5, 4next to 1, and 5 next to 1 and 3 the corresponding entries in matrix1129 are incremented, resulting in a capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric of m=24.

Swizzle stage 1145 is computed by composition of swizzle stage 1115 withswizzle stage 1135 to increase the capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metric, m. Since in swizzle stage 1145, the order{5,3,1,2,4} places 1 next to 2 and 3, 2 next to 1 and 4, 3 next to 1 and5, 4 next to 2, and 5 next to 3, the corresponding entries in matrix1129 are changed from 1 to 2, resulting in a capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation metric of m=32. Since no further increase in thecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric is available, theswizzling pattern is complete except for an optional swizzling torestore the initial order of the set.

FIG. 12a illustrates a flow diagram for one embodiment of a process 1201to employ repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on a set of signal lines. In processing block 1211signal lines of a set of signal lines are swizzled to provide a stage ofincrease in capacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Processingcontinues in processing block 1212 where a check is performed to see ifthe capacitive and inductive (CI) noise cancellation target has beenreached. If so, process 1201 terminates from processing block 1212.Otherwise, processing continues in processing block 1213 where a checkis performed to see if a swizzle is repeatable for producing the nextstage. If so, processing continues in processing block 1214 where therepeatable swizzle is repeated to provide another stage of increase incapacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Otherwise, processingcontinues in processing block 1211 where signal lines of the set areswizzled again to provide another stage of increase in capacitive andinductive noise cancellation. Processing then returns to processingblock 1212 until the capacitive and inductive (CI) noise cancellationtarget has been reached, which finally terminates process 1201 fromprocessing block 1212.

It will be appreciated that in such cases where the order of the set ofsignal lines after one or more applications of process 1201 is not thesame as the initial order of the set of signal lines, an additionalswizzle stage may optionally be employed to restore the initial order ofthe set.

FIG. 12b illustrates a flow diagram for an alternative embodiment of aprocess 1202 to employ repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation on a set of signal lines. In processingblock 1221 a swizzle cell is inserted for a set of signal lines, havingan initial order, to provide a stage of capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Processing continues in processing block 1222 where theswizzle cell is reinserted for the set of signal lines to provideanother stage of further capacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Inprocessing block 1223 a check is performed to see if the repeatableswizzling pattern is finished. If not, processing continues inprocessing block 1222 and the swizzle cell is reinserted again toprovide another stage of further capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Otherwise, the process terminates from processing block1223. An additional swizzle stage may optionally be employed to restorethe initial order of the set.

FIG. 13a illustrates one embodiment of an apparatus comprisingrepeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation on sets of six signal lines. A repeatable swizzle cell 1301provides a swizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation ona set of six signal lines between shielding 1315 and shielding 1325, theset having an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Swizzle cell 1301 maycomprise at least two layers of metal traces and vias to establishconductive connections between the metal layers. Since swizzle cell 1301may be efficiently designed once but reused many times, the repetitionof use provides for cost and labor savings and the efficiency of designprovides for area and complexity savings in the interconnect design.Signal line 1 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 4 and 5 forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation. Signal line 2 is swizzledto place it next to signal lines 5 and 6; signal line 3 is swizzled toplace it next to signal line 6; signal line 4 is swizzled to place itnext to signal lines 1; signal line 5 is swizzled to place it next tosignal lines 1 and 2; and signal line 6 is swizzled to place it next tosignal lines 2 and 3 thereby providing a first swizzle stage forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation having an order{3,6,2,5,1,4}.

It will be appreciated that swizzle cell 1301 and other repeatableswizzle cells may be inserted repeatedly into an interconnect to employa swizzling pattern. For example, swizzle cell 1301 may be reinsertedinto the interconnect as illustrated to provide another swizzle stagefor further capacitive and inductive noise cancellation having an order{2,4,6,1,3,5}. Similarly, swizzle cell 1301 may be reinserted asillustrated to provide yet another swizzle stage for further capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation having an order {6,5,4,3,2,1}. Swizzlecell 1301 may be repeatedly inserted in this manner three more times,thereby completing the swizzling pattern and restoring the sets initialorder {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

It will be appreciated that other repeatable swizzling patterns arepossible as well. For example, a repeatable swizzle cell 1311 provides aswizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on another setof six signal lines between shielding 1325 and shielding 1335, this setalso having an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Signal line 1 is swizzled toplace it next to signal lines 3 and 5 for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Signal line 2 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines5 and 6; signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next to signal line 1;signal line 4 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 6; signalline 5 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and 2; and signalline 6 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 2 and 4 therebyproviding a first swizzle stage for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation having an order {3,1,5,2,6,4}.

Swizzle cell 1311 may be reinserted into the interconnect as illustratedto provide another swizzle stage for further capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {5,3,6,1,4,2}. Similarly, swizzlecell 1311 may be reinserted as illustrated to provide yet anotherswizzle stage for further capacitive and inductive noise cancellationhaving an order {6,5,4,3,2,1}, and may be repeatedly inserted in thismanner three more times, thereby completing the swizzling pattern andrestoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

FIG. 13b illustrates an alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines. For the currentembodiment, repeatable swizzle cell 1304 provides a swizzling forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signal linesbetween shielding 1315 and shielding 1325, the set having an initialorder {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Signal line 1 is swizzled to place it next tosignal lines 4 and 5 for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation.Signal line 2 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 5 and 6;signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next to signal line 6; signal line4 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 1; signal line 5 isswizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and 2; and signal line 6 isswizzled to place it next to signal lines 2 and 3 thereby providing afirst swizzle stage for capacitive and inductive noise cancellationhaving an order {4,1,5,2,6,3}.

Swizzle cell 1304 may be reinserted into the interconnect as illustratedto provide another swizzle stage for further capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {2,4,6,1,3,5}. Similarly, swizzlecell 1304 may be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Ifconvenient, the same swizzling pattern may be employed again in the sameset of signal lines or in other sets of signal lines.

Alternatively, different repeatable swizzling patterns may be employedas well. For example, repeatable swizzle cell 1302 provides a swizzlingfor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on another set of sixsignal lines between shielding 1325 and shielding 1335, this set alsohaving an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Signal line 1 is swizzled toplace it next to signal lines 3 and 6 for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Signal line 2 is swizzled to place it next to signal line4; signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and 5;signal line 4 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 2 and 6;signal line 5 is swizzled to place it next to signal line 3; and signalline 6 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and 4 therebyproviding a first swizzle stage for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation having an order {2,4,6,1,3,5}.

Swizzle cell 1302 may be reinserted into the interconnect as illustratedto provide another swizzle stage for further capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {4,1,5,2,6,3}. Similarly, swizzlecell 1302 may be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

FIG. 13c illustrates another alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines. For the currentembodiment, repeatable swizzle cell 1314 provides a swizzling forcapacitive and inductive noise cancellation on a set of six signal linesbetween shielding 1315 and shielding 1325, the set having an initialorder {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Signal line 1 is swizzled to place it next tosignal lines 3 and 5 for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation.Signal line 2 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 5 and 6;signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next to signal line 1; signal line4 is swizzled to place it next to signal line 6; signal line 5 isswizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and 2; and signal line 6 isswizzled to place it next to signal lines 2 and 4 thereby providing afirst swizzle stage for capacitive and inductive noise cancellationhaving an order {4,6,2,5,1,3}.

Swizzle cell 1314 may be reinserted into the interconnect as illustratedto provide another swizzle stage for further capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {5,3,6,1,4,2}. Similarly, swizzlecell 1314 may be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6},and if convenient, the pattern may be employed again in the same set ofsignal lines or in other sets of signal lines.

Alternatively, a repeatable swizzle cell 1312 may be employed to providea swizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on anotherset of six signal lines between shielding 1325 and shielding 1335, thisset also having an initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}. Signal line 1 isswizzled to place it next to signal lines 4 and 6 for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation. Signal line 2 is swizzled to place it nextto signal line 4; signal line 3 is swizzled to place it next to signallines 5 and 6; signal line 4 is swizzled to place it next to signallines 1 and 2; signal line 5 is swizzled to place it next to signal line3; and signal line 6 is swizzled to place it next to signal lines 1 and3 thereby providing a first swizzle stage for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {5,3,6,1,4,2}.

Swizzle cell 1312 may be reinserted into the interconnect as illustratedto provide another swizzle stage for further capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation having an order {4,6,2,5,1,3}. Similarly, swizzlecell 1312 may be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

FIG. 13d illustrates another alternative embodiment of an apparatuscomprising repeatable swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation on sets of six signal lines. For the currentembodiment, repeatable swizzle cell 1304 provides a first swizzle stagefor capacitive and inductive noise cancellation having an order{4,1,5,2,6,3}.

Repeatable swizzle cell 1301 may then be inserted into the interconnectas illustrated to provide another swizzle stage for further capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation having an order {5,3,1,6,4,2}. Swizzlecell 1301 may then be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6},and if convenient, the pattern may be employed again in the same set ofsignal lines or in other sets of signal lines.

Alternatively, repeatable swizzle cell 1315 may be employed to provide aswizzling for capacitive and inductive noise cancellation on another setof six signal lines between shielding 1325 and shielding 1335, therebyproviding a first swizzle stage for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation having an order {2,4,1,6,3,5}.

Repeatable swizzle cell 1312 may then be inserted into the interconnectas illustrated to provide another swizzle stage for further capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation having an order {3,1,5,2,6,4}. Swizzlecell 1315 may then be reinserted as illustrated, thereby completing theswizzling pattern and restoring the sets initial order {1,2,3,4,5,6}.

It will also be appreciated that the methods herein disclosed or methodssubstantially similar to those herein disclosed may be implemented inone of many programming languages (including but not limited to C andC++) for performing automated computations (including but not limited toproviding capacitive and inductive noise cancellation for signal linesof an interconnect, calculating swizzling patterns for capacitive andinductive noise cancellation, and inserting repeatable swizzling cellsin sets of signal lines of an interconnect) using high-speed computingdevices. Preferred embodiments of such implementations may provide forarguments to specify, for example, capacitive and inductive noisecancellation metrics, capacitive and inductive noise cancellationtargets, swizzle groups, and swizzle library cells.

For example, FIG. 14 illustrates one embodiment of an automated designsystem to employ swizzling patterns for capacitive and inductive noisecancellation. Automated design system 1422 is connectable with variousstorage, transmission and I/O devices to receive data structures andprogrammed methods. Representative data structures 1401 may include butare not limited to circuit descriptions 1411, swizzle groups 1412, andswizzle cell library 1413. Representative programmed methods 1402 mayinclude but are not limited to swizzle calculation programs 1414, noiseanalysis programs 1415, swizzle stage insertion programs 1416, andswizzle stage repetition programs 1417. Components of either or both ofthe data structures and programmed methods may be stored or transmittedon devices such as removable storage disks 1425, which may be accessedthrough an access device 1426 in automated design system 1422 or in astorage serving system 1421. Storage serving system 1421 or automateddesign system 1422 may also include other removable storage devices ornon-removable storage devices suitable for storing or transmitting datastructures 1401 or programmed methods 1402. Component data structuresand programmed methods may also be stored or transmitted on devices suchas network 1424 for access by automated design system 1422 or entered byusers through I/O device 1423.

It will be appreciated that systems such as the one illustrated arecommonly available and widely used in the art of designing integratedsystems including interconnects. It will also be appreciated that thecomplexity, capabilities, and physical forms of such design systemsimproves and changes rapidly, and therefore understood that the designsystem illustrated is by way of example and not limitation

The above description is intended to illustrate preferred embodiments ofthe present invention. From the discussion above it should also beapparent that the invention may be modified in arrangement and detail bythose skilled in the art without departing from the principles of thepresent invention within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: calculating a first swizzlestage to increase a capacitive and inductive noise cancellation metricfor a set of N signal lines; identifying if further capacitive andinductive noise cancellation is needed to reach a cancellation target;and calculating another swizzle stage to further increase the capacitiveand inductive noise cancellation metric for the set of N signal lines ifneeded to reach the cancellation target.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein a first signal line of the set is adjacent to a first subset ofthe set of N signal lines in the first swizzle stage and another swizzlestage is calculated to place the first signal line adjacent to a secondsubset of signal lines in a second swizzle stage, the first subset andthe second subset being disjoint.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein thefirst signal line of the set is adjacent to a third subset of the set ofsignal lines in an initial order of the set of N signal lines and thefirst swizzle stage places the first signal line adjacent to the firstsubset of signal lines, the first subset and the third subset beingdisjoint.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first subset, the secondsubset and the third subset are disjoint.
 5. The method of claim 4further comprising: calculating a third swizzle stage to restore theinitial order of the set of N signal lines.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein another swizzle stage is calculated to further increase thecapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric by composing thefirst swizzle stage with itself.
 7. The method of claim 1 comprisingcalculating S swizzle stages to increase the capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation metric for the set of N signal lines, wherein each ofthe N signal lines of the set is placed adjacent to every other signalline of the set in some stage of the S stages, and optionally providingan additional stage to restoring an initial order of the set.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, S being related to N according to the equation: N²/2−(2S+3)N/2+S+1=0.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein a plurality ofswizzle stages are calculated by compositions of the first swizzlestage.
 10. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessiblemedium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause themachine to perform the method of claim
 9. 11. An article of manufacturecomprising a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the method of claim7.
 12. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-accessible mediumincluding data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine toperform the method of claim
 4. 13. An article of manufacture comprisinga machine-accessible medium including data that, when accessed by amachine, cause the machine to perform the method of claim
 1. 14. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the first swizzle stage and the second swizzlestage each increase the capacitive and inductive noise cancellationmetric by a stage cancellation limit amount.
 15. The method of claim 1wherein said another swizzle stage is calculated to place no signalline, of the set of N signal lines, adjacent to one of the same signallines that they are adjacent to in the first swizzle stage.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the first swizzle stage is calculated toplace no signal line, of the set of N signal lines, adjacent to one ofthe same signal lines that they are adjacent to in an initial order ofthe set of N signal lines.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein saidanother swizzle stage is calculated to place no signal line, of the setof N signal lines, adjacent to one of the same signal lines that theyare adjacent to in the initial order.
 18. An article of manufacturecomprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, provides the machine with: means for computing afirst swizzle stage for a set of N active signal lines to produce afirst increase in capacitive and inductive noise cancellation; and;means for computing a second swizzle stage for the set of N activesignal lines to produce a second increase in capacitive and inductivenoise cancellation in addition to the first increase.
 19. The article ofmanufacture of claim 18 further comprising: a machine-accessible mediumincluding data that, when accessed by a machine, provides the machinewith means for restoring an initial order of the set of N signal lines.20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 wherein restoring the initialorder of the set of N signal lines produces a third increase incapacitive and inductive noise cancellation in addition to the first andsecond increases.
 21. The article of manufacture of claim 18 furthercomprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, provides the machine with means for computing acapacitive and inductive noise cancellation metric for said first andsecond increases.
 22. The article of manufacture of claim 18 furthercomprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, provides the machine with: means for computingthe first swizzle stage repositioning the set of signal lines to producethe first increase in capacitive and inductive noise cancellationaccording to a repeatable swizzling pattern; and means for computing thesecond swizzle stage repositioning the set of signal lines to producethe second increase in capacitive and inductive noise cancellationaccording to the repeatable swizzling pattern.
 23. The article ofmanufacture of claim 18 wherein the N active signal lines may each beswitched in a single transmission cycle.
 24. An article of manufacturecomprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, cause the machine to: identify a first swizzlecell to provide a set of N concurrently active signal lines with a firststage of capacitive and inductive noise cancellation; and identify asecond swizzle cell to provide the set of N concurrently active signallines with a second stage of further capacitive and inductive noisecancellation.
 25. The article of manufacture of claim 24 whereinconcurrently active indicates that each of the N signal lines may beswitched in a single transmission cycle.
 26. The article of manufactureof claim 24 wherein a first signal line of the set is adjacent to afirst subset of the set of signal lines in the first stage and thesecond stage places the first signal line adjacent to a second subset ofthe set of signal lines, the first subset and the second subset beingdisjoint.
 27. The article of manufacture of claim 26 wherein the firstswizzle cell and the second swizzle cell are identified to reducecapacitive and inductive noise due to switching within the set of signallines.
 28. The article of manufacture of claim 24 wherein the secondstage places no signal line, of the set of N concurrently active signallines, adjacent to one of the same signal lines that they are adjacentto in the first stage.
 29. The article of manufacture of claim 28wherein the set of N concurrently active signal lines has an originalorder and the first swizzle stage places no signal line, of the set of Nconcurrently active signal lines, adjacent to one of the same signallines that they are adjacent to in the original order.
 30. The articleof manufacture of claim 29 further including data that when accessed bythe machine, cause the machine to: identify a third swizzle cell torestore the set of signal lines to their original order.
 31. The articleof manufacture of claim 29 further including data that when accessed bythe machine, cause the machine to: identify one of the first or secondswizzle cells to restore the set of signal lines to their originalorder.
 32. The article of manufacture of claim 24 further including datathat when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to: identify thesecond swizzle cell as a repetition of the first swizzle cell.
 33. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 24 further including data that whenaccessed by the machine, cause the machine to: identify a plurality of Sswizzle cells to provide the set of N concurrently active signal lineswith capacitive and inductive noise cancellation within the set, S beingrelated to N according to the equation N ²/2−(2S+3)N/2+S+1=0. optionallyidentify a swizzle cell to restore an initial order for the set of Nconcurrently active signal lines.
 34. An article of manufacturecomprising: a machine-accessible medium including data that, whenaccessed by a machine, cause the machine to: compute a plurality ofrepeatable swizzle cells linking segments of a set of N concurrentlyactive signal lines, the plurality of swizzle cells transposing nearvictim signal lines and far victim signal lines in subsequent segmentsto facilitate capacitive and inductive noise cancellation within the setof N concurrently active signal lines; and optionally compute a swizzlecell to restore an initial order for the set of N concurrently activesignal lines.
 35. The article of manufacture of claim 34 whereinconcurrently active indicates that each of the N signal lines may beswitched in a single transmission cycle.